Groundwater plan adopted

The Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday, March 5 to adopt the Voluntary Groundwater Management and Enhancement Plan for Scott Valley. The public comment period for the plan ended on Feb. 22.

Comment

By John Bowman

Siskiyou Daily News, Yreka, CA

By John Bowman

Posted Mar. 12, 2013 at 3:00 PM
Updated Mar 12, 2013 at 3:08 PM

By John Bowman

Posted Mar. 12, 2013 at 3:00 PM
Updated Mar 12, 2013 at 3:08 PM

Yreka

The Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday, March 5 to adopt the Voluntary Groundwater Management and Enhancement Plan for Scott Valley. The public comment period for the plan ended on Feb. 22.

The plan is the result of several years of work by the Scott River Groundwater Advisory Committee which was created and appointed by the board of supervisors. The supervisors were very supportive of the management plan and applauded the work of the committee.

Public comments

Siskiyou County Natural Resource Policy Specialist Ric Costales began discussion of the plan by responding to some of the comments submitted.

Costales said the plan received “a lot of criticism that the committee isn’t representative of the public.” This criticism came from both the Karuk Tribe and Klamath Riverkeeper.

He said the committee was not created to satisfy any specific regulatory procedure and the appointment of its members was purely up to the discretion of the board of supervisors.

He addressed comments that the plan lacked specific methods for reductions in demand for groundwater, saying it would be a “premature conclusion to be reached that demand needs to be reduced.” He added, “Before we make those sorts of steps there needs to be sufficient justification for that kind of step.” He said that “working on the demand side has the most impact to agriculture.”

Costales also addressed an allegation that the county is issuing too many well permits in Scott Valley. He said there is no expansion of the amount of acreage being farmed in Scott Valley so, in his opinion, it’s unlikely that more water is being used.

“Whatever new wells that are going in are probably going in just to make their irrigation systems better or to get the water they already need. Just because people are punching more holes in the ground, on the same ground, to irrigate the same crops, that doesn’t mean they’re putting anymore water on it,” he said.

Costales said the assumption of increased pumping as a direct result of more wells “certainly isn’t justified by any existing data.”

The Karuk Tribe disagrees with that assertion. They completed their own study of Scott Valley groundwater last year and contend that increased groundwater pumping since the 1980 Scott River Adjudication has had a direct impact on stream flows due to the interconnectedness of the groundwater aquifer to the river. The Karuk Tribe says the groundwater committee should have considered their study when forming its management plan.

The Klamath Riverkeeper comments also allege that the Karuk study was unjustly ignored. They also quote passages from the 2008 Scott Valley Community Groundwater Study Plan, prepared by Dr. Thomas Harter, for Siskiyou County, the regional water board and the Siskiyou Resource Conservation District.

Page 2 of 2 - “This groundwater [management] plan relies on the false assumption that we need additional science to prove that groundwater pumping reduces flows in the Scott River,” states the Klamath Riverkeeper comment. This statement is followed by a quote from the 2008 Harter study plan stating, “Stream flows in the valley exhibit a direct correlation to changes in groundwater table elevation,” and “Groundwater pumping during the summer and, hence, groundwater levels during the mid to late summer months also significantly control groundwater contributions to the Scott River.”

Ownership and effort

Siskiyou County Supervisor Marcia Armstrong, who represents the Scott Valley area, said at the meeting she is disturbed by what she sees as a trend toward viewing groundwater as a communal resource. “It’s not a communal resource. It’s owned by you. It’s part of your property rights,” she told the groundwater committee members in attendance.

Armstrong said she believes it is admirable that the committee members, as irrigators, are making a voluntary effort to diminish their impact on downstream water uses. She added that the county is trying to avoid regulatory solutions to environmental issues and this voluntary management plan achieves that goal.

She called the criticisms a “bitter pill” to her, saying they do not recognize the extensive efforts that have been made by landowners and irrigators to improve stream flows and salmon habitat. She also said that “downstream” water uses “do not have the same economic contribution to Siskiyou County as our farming and ranching industries do.”

Costales said it’s important to remember that the groundwater management and enhancement plan is a “living document” that will be adapted and changed over time as more is learned about Scott Valley groundwater.

Costales noted that the committee did not make any changes to the plan based on the comments they received. “For what we know now, this document is sufficient,” he said.

Preston Harris, a past chairman and current member of the groundwater committee, told the board that the plan needs to grow and develop over time. He noted that the plan was written with the intention that other groups that want to participate “in a constructive manner” will be brought into the process. He said he believes there is little or no conflict over the plan within the Scott Valley community.

To review the complete plan, go to co.siskiyou.ca.us/BOS/nr_new.aspx. Copies of the plan are available for viewing at the public libraries in Fort Jones and Etna.